When are you going?

24 of us fly out to here on the 26th July, would be great to hear any feed back

Cathy

Flying out on the 5th July will let you know when we get back

Thats will be great thanks

Have you seen the latest review in the hotel reviews section, sounds good

Cathy

Not yet but i was a bit worried about the one in holiday uncovered

We went last year. We complained about the entertainment but I doubt anything will be done to improve it.
There is an ampitheatre and the first part of the evening is taken up with kiddie entertainment by the animation team followed by grown up entertainment by the animation team. Apart from a couple of visiting cabaret acts such as the dancers and magicians the standard was abominable. There is also a disco but the DJ was under the impression that the kids werent dancing because the music wasn't loud enough not because the content was bad.

Back in the village are a couple of bars where the waiters provide entertainment which is much better. Beware if they offer you free cakes though as they suddenly appear on the bill..

The Caravanserai night is well worth the visit. If you have a large party make sure the rep and the owner know you want to sit together before you get shown to the tables. The Salad and dressings in the first course look a bit like those at the hotel but they are actually a lot more english tasting. If I had realised I would have had a decent plate full rather than a couple of little bits.

There are some good bars in Kusadasi for entertainment if you can be bothered, don;t miss the last bus though or it is Taxi time.

Ephasus is about 3 bus stops from the fromt door. The rep told me that it was a bus into town then look around town for the bus to selcuk etc etc.
All you do is catch a selcuk bus which passes the front of the hotel and ask for Ephasus. Coming back is just as simple.
The bus drops you off at the Taxi rank for Ephasus and you can either negotiate a fee for a ride or walk. We walked along to the bottom gate up through Ephasus, around Ephasus and back down to the bus stop and I am not fit.

From the hotel you can see the Adaland park. It is within walking distance or you can use the bus. To me it was better than AquaFantasy but I am not a rider due to a bad back. There is a lovely large pool and diving platforms right at the top of the hill and because it was out of the way it was very quiet. About £15 to get in.

Check with those in Turkey before you go but last year we were ripped of everywhere for using Lira rather than pounds and I see the rate has changed again.
DON'T BOTHER with the JMC boat trip. We did and it was awful. No seats shelter, suitable destinations etc. I think I have posted elsewhere in the forum about how we got dumped in what looked like a gypsy camp..
Go to the boats by pidgeon island or use a town trip organiser. Some of our party did and they had a good time on all their trips.
If you want to know about the JMC pummakale trip let me know.

Apart from all that we had a good time. The food was edible. The rooms were clean: we were lucky as our electric did not need the key and so we had an air conditioed room to go back to at night whereas the others needed their key to turn theirs on. Watch out for the flesh eating flies though. We had no problems in Cesme but most of the party got attacked in Kusi. Try and have a meal in the speciality restaurants, well worth it. And I found my pathetic attempts to speak Turkish by ordering and thanking the staff in their native language made them a lot more friendly as in "humour this chap he is an idiot" type thing. At the end even the staff who had "poor" english were conversing freely.

Unless things have changed you have a little red armband with a code so everytime you get anything such as a drink, snack, watersport etc you hand over the TAG and it gets recorded against you.

The only thing that was actually chargeable was internet access and they had a problem when we were there such that it was getting over charged or charged to the wrong account. All easily resolved. You can also get more Tags if you need them by asking at reception when things are quiet.

Watch out for the "mini bar" We thought it was complimentary as we were AI but it cost me about £12 for 4 cans. If you have to use it nip down to the shop and get a replacement before they find out.

Have a good time we did.

Visited September last year and posted review on hotel section.
Will try to answer any other questions.

Thanks very much for that, really looking forward to it now

how did you find getting a sun bed,

thanks

Cathy

Sorry another questions or two

could you advise on the time of coach transfer? and what sport and water sport was available as we have 4 teenagers with us

thanks

Sun beds, when we were there it was no problem but the hotel was only half full. We did here there had been problems in high season.
Coach transfer was about two hours with a stop, but we think that was more to do with the hotel not wanting us there too early as we had a morning flight.
Water sports, lots but they have to be paid for and were not cheap. Severeral water parks nearby, buy tickets in town and travel by dolmus.

Thanks for that, thats great

Is there any floors for room's you would recommend or are they all about the same, I do like my peace when I sleep

Try asking for a room at the front of the hotel, not a sea view as the disco is open air and goes on until 2.00am but its not that loud.

Thanks thats great

there are 2 pools and the beach. The large pool is where all the activity is and is between the hotel and the disco. the small pool is outside the dining room.
We had rooms on the fourth floor overlooking the small pool and down the coast to Kusi. The only noise problems we had were the Air Con..
You do have to get up early to grab a lounger as I used to sit on the balcony at 6 and watch them creep out with the towels.. One alternative is to buy lilos and take them with you. We were at the height of the season and there was normally room on the beach. Hundreds of free loungers on the top of the Adaland though! The JMC rep told us that they did not use Adaland as the owners would not cooperate with the HSE issues but it seemed fine to us once everyone woke up. ie the watchers were a bit Lax first thing in the morning until a close call woke them up but it was only a case of people not clearing the area and staying at the bottom of the slide which should be an auto nono fro sensible persons... the slope at the top could also be tricky in bare feet when wet, but Granny made it up and down with ease.

At the parks you get a card, you then "put money" on the card, use the card for purchases in the complex and then get a refund on the card when you return it, or pay the fine if you lose it you can obviously top it up as required. Aquafantasy has large lockers which require a 5 mill refundable deposit. ADAland have smaller less secure lockers which are "free" but they do have small security boxes which require money, i didn;t use them so can not fill in anymore detail. For Adaland from this hotel it is not worth going to town and buying an entrance ticket unless you happen to come across a good deal while you are actually in town. Both parks were about 15 mill entrance.

Look up Pummekalle and Cleopatras pool to see if you fancy that trip because it is a long all day one for a couple of hours at Pummekalle.

We went with JMC as it was easier and they promised longer at the site. i don't believe they deliver on that though.
We spend hours wandering round Aphrodisias, the most amazing part of which was the stadium. Worth going for that alone and as we were not expecting it the awe as it comes into view as you enter was amazing. The rest of the site was notable but not what we were after. then it was lunch in a "Diana" restaurant. Some of the party also found that the rep had told them the wrong price for entry into the pool, but the Tour Guide lent them the money.

By the time we got to Pummi we had just enough time to rush down the pools a couple of levels (painful as you are not allowed shoes) and then a very quick dip in the pool, before it was back in the coach.

Back to the hotel:
The pedalos are free and so is the windsurfing but you need a certificate of some sort. Even though they are free you have to go to the snack bar and get a receipt on your Tag which you then take back and find you are in an invisible queue..

By the way the pillows are like knotted rope. one couple managed to get comfortable ones from the cleaner but if you are overly sensitive like me you may have to take blowups or use the lilo..

From the review for June this year it looks like it hasn't changed much so you will be in for a very good time.

If you haven't done Adnan Mendes airport before: in a nutshell:

You get off the plane and feel the heat.
You go through the duty free area where you can buy stuff if you want.

you then have to pass the Visa point where you queue to give a uniformed chappy a £10 bribe to get into the country. It has to be our money and if you have kids they sometimes let them through at a reduced rate.. From there you go to the checkpoint where they check you against your passport and ensure that you have paid your money. You have to go back and rejoin the previous queue if you forgot!.

From there you wait for your bags to appear. There is a toilet and it is best to use it while waiting for your bags as opposed to after.

When you have your bags and trolley you leave the building at which point you are accosted by the "porters" who will take your bags to the coach for a fee which used to be £1 per bag but may have gone up. If ou can fight your way through them you cross the road and enter a stairwell at which point you have to ditch the trolley anyway. Second time we didn't bother with the trolley at all. You go up and over the bridge down the other side and into the car park where you should find your coach. If you have large cases try and get there earlyish as case space is limited.
There are driks sellers running about and it used to 50p or £1 per drink.

Timing is important, if you can get through while the porters are busy it is a lot less hassle but if you wait until everyone has gone ie toilet last then they are all after the last money of the night and it is a nightmare.
remember though that as daunting as they are they are only trying to survive but they will give up and go if you are firm and polite.

From the airport we had a straight journey to the hotel arriving about 4 am if I remember. When we went to Pomelan at Cesme they had cofee and biscuits waiting for us, but no such luxuries at Tusan, which is why I mistakenly raided the minibar.

We booked a late room from the hotel and kept it until we left.
On the way back home you are dropped at the airport and while you are trying to get the cases out of the coach "porters" will try and knock you over with trolleys touting for business. Take your case through the door where you immediately have to put it on a conveyor belt to be xrayed. You then take it about 20 yards to be checked in. This is where you usualy find someone in the queu behind you fighting to reposess their luggage from a porter who is trying to get a couple of quid per bag for his 30 meter trip.

Then you go into the departure lounge where I noticed they have a very interesting live animal exhibit. A glass cage full of "smokers". Something we should try here.. most of the booths charge the same prices but it is part of the fun trying to get them to compete for your business.

The Hotel again:
Be warned that it is not an English hotel, we were much in the minority but the staff always took our side in arguments with the turkish holidaymakers so it is no problem. If you are friendly to the staff they will be friendly and go out of their way to help you.

Thats fantastic thanks very much for taking the time to post

Cathy

O Steve,

You brought back soooo many memories for me - I haven't been through Adnan Menderes airport for about 5 years now - it obviously hasn't changed at all .

I've NEVER been hassled so much by porters in any other airport in the world.

Elaine

thanks for the warning look forward to that then

Cathy

Ah but its all part of the holiday experience ain't it ?

I'm doing a package holiday for the first time in years next week, I'll be driven nuts by the time we get from the airport to our apartment - its only a 20-minute drive by car, but I bet it takes 3 times that long by tour company coach!

Elaine

Very true

Cathy

Any more queries, just ask. You can even email me if you don't want to ask the question in public.

We were a party of 26 or 27 and had kids, teenagers, and grannies amongst us.
Some of the tables at the caravanserai weren't large enough so we had to move but the manager said if we had told him beforehand there would not have been a fuss.

useful tip for the hotel restaurant.

We found a large table reserved for a party of foreigners, but when we asked the waiter about a large table he "lost his English" and assumed we were the party ( I said they were on our side!) so we had the table whenever we wanted it.

You could always ask the travel company to request a large table for you to be reserved unless you all want to eat in dribs and drabs anyway.